Here we go again. Fire hazard risks are already mounting over Nvidia's RTX 5090 after a Redditor shared images of the GPU's wiring harness visibly melted after playing Battlefield 5. The incident has sparked memories of the RTX 4090's power connector failures a few years ago.
At the start of the week, a Reddit user named /u/ivan6953 wrote in the Nvidia subreddit that the power connector on his RTX 5090 had melted while playing Battlefield 5:
I am not distant from the PC-building world and know what I'm doing. The cable was securely fastened and clicked on both sides (GPU and PSU).
I noticed the burning smell playing Battlefield 5. The power draw was 500-520W. Instantly turned off my PC - and see for yourself...
The cable was securely fastened and clicked.
The PSU and cable haven't changed from 4090FE (which was used for 2 years). Here is the previous build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/RdMv6h
Noticed a melting smell, turned off the PC - and just see the photos. The problem seems to have originated from the PSU side.
Loki's 12VHPWR pins are MUCH thinner than in the 12VHPWR slot on 5090FE.
Current build: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/VRfPxr
I dunno what to do really. I will try to submit warranty claims to Nvidia and Asus. But I'm afraid I will simply be shut down on the "3rd party cable" part. Fuck, man
. . .
The Verge weighed in on the cable incident, noting that another user of the new graphics card also reported a burnt cable issue:
While it's tempting to blame the MODDIY cable, Spanish YouTuber Toro Tocho has experienced the same burnt cable (both at the GPU and PSU ends) with an RTX 5090 Founders Edition while using a cable supplied by PSU manufacturer FSP. Plastic has also melted into the PCIe 5.0 power connector on the power supply. MODDIY also responded in a Reddit thread, ruling out the "possibility of a defective cable or manufacturing error" and offering to cover the cost of repair if Nvidia and Asus don't honor their warranties.
YouTuber der8auer has also examined the Reddit poster's equipment in person, and ruled out any form of user error in the process. He's also found that this could be related to a current distribution problem with RTX 5090 Founders Edition models instead. Either way, nobody should be blaming 12VHPWR issues on end users.
X user chimed in:
This development comes less than a month after Nvidia stated that its new RTX 50-series cards won't melt power plugs this time:
"It is expected that such a phenomenon will not occur in the RTX 50 series. We made some changes to the connector to respond to the issue at the time, and now, about two years later, I understand that such problems do not occur."
This is a worrisome flashback to the RTX 4090 Founders Edition's power cable melting incidents a couple of years ago, ultimately leading buyers to file a class-action lawsuit against the US chipmaker.